seal impression / Seal Matrix, 1790.

Fitzgerald, Lord Edward, gold mounted seal matrix, said to have been used by about 1790. Elliptical matrix of carnelian, engraved with crest and motto of the Fitzgeralds, Dukes of Leinster (On a wreath, a monkey at gaze, proper, environed about the middle, and chained, or above CROM A BOO) 1.1 in x .8 in. The mount on elliptical frame for the matrix with six fluted straps extending from the reverse of it and joined together in the form of a calyx, of which the straps are the sepels. At the base of this calyx a ring with a split ring attached. 1.3 inches from the outer margin of the ring at the base of the calyx to the face of the matrix. No mark. the ascription of this seal matrix to Lord Edward Fitzgerald is based on the following: Lady Mary Ross, who married, as his second wife, Sir Charles Ross of Balnagown, seventh Baronet, in 1799 was the eldest daughter of the 2nd Duke of Leinster and a niece of Lord Edward. The tradition in the Ross family is that the seal matrix was Lord Edward's, brought into the Ross family by Lady Mary. Lady Dorothy Ross, who presented the matrix to the Government, is the widow of Sir Charles, 9th Baronet (d.s.p.), inventor of the Ross rifle.;